1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system and, in particular, to a method and system for multi-computer data transferring. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and system for multi-user communication using instant messaging.
2. Description of Related Art
In most instant messaging systems, the activity status or the availability status of a particular user is reflected to other users of an instant messaging system by associating one of many variable status values with the user account. These status values assist other users in assessing whether it is possible for the other users to initiate an instant messaging session with the given user. For example, an “offline” status shows that a given user is not logged onto the system, thereby informing other users that any attempt to initiate an instant messaging session with the given user would be futile. An “online” status shows that a user is logged onto the system, and other users may assume that they are likely to get a response when they initiate an instant messaging session with the given user.
In some cases, an instant messaging system automatically assigns a certain status value to a user, and this automatic assignment of status can be very helpful in facilitating communication between users. For example, in most instant messaging applications, a user is given the ability to maintain a buddy list; a buddy is another user of the instant messaging application with which the user often exchanges instant messages. The instant messaging system might automatically assign a user an “online” status value when the user logs onto the system; at the same time, a buddy list typically actively displays the status of each buddy. By displaying the buddy list in an open window of a client device, a user has the ability to easily monitor the online status of the user's buddies; when the user notices that a particular buddy's status has changed from “offline” to “online”, the user can quickly initiate an instant messaging session with that particular buddy. In some instant messaging systems, an automatic assignment of status is only performed when the user has not previously designated an alternative status; in many cases, the user is able to override an automatically assigned status value by changing it to some other status value.
Although the indication of user status can be helpful in facilitating communication between users, it can also be disruptive to a user's productivity by distracting a user from other activities. Hence, many instant messaging systems allow a user to manually select from several possible status values. In some cases, various privacy-related status values can be selected that control whether other users are informed of a given user's current status. These status values restrict the other users from knowing the true status of the given user, thereby prohibiting those users from beginning an instant message conversation with the given user; for example, a user can hide his or her status by manually selecting an “invisible” status that hides the user's true online status from other users while allowing the user to remain online, and the other users receive only an indication that the user has an offline status.
In other cases, various privacy-related status values can be selected that inform other users of the likelihood that they will be able to initiate an instant messaging session with a given user. For example, a “busy” status indicates that the given user is currently doing some other activity, while a “be right back” status would indicate to other users that the given user is temporarily away from his or her computer. As another example, a “do not disturb” status would indicate to other users that are interested in the given user's status that the given user does not want to be interrupted by instant messaging sessions. During any period in which the user has one of these status values, though, the user is able to monitor the status of other online users or to have the ability to start instant messaging sessions with other online users, assuming that the other users do not have a busy status or similar status.
As should be apparent from the above-noted exemplary status values, a set of status values in an instant messaging application can reflect a degree of availability or unavailability of a given user, which may be manually selected by the user. At any given time, though, the user is generally concentrating on a particular task or a few tasks in the user's local environment, and the user might frequently forget to select an instant messaging status that accurately reflects the user's current availability for actively engaging in an instant messaging session.
Therefore, it would be advantageous for an instant messaging application to provide a user with assistance in automatically setting a currently appropriate status value based on the user's activity within the user's local environment.